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Country artist Jeff Bates has lifted himself from the pit of hell. His big break in the music industry?

“Going to jail,” Bates says bluntly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDc6zpGlwB8

“I moved to Nashville in October of 2000,” he explains. “I was addicted to methamphetamines at the time.”

Despite his drug use, Bates’ career seemed to be on the rise.

“Someone from Mercury Records came out to look at me,” he says. “They were talking about giving me a record deal.”

But for a time, the drugs won. “I got arrested for stealing so I could buy drugs, and it changed my life,” Bates says.

He says he turned to drugs in an effort to fill an emptiness in his soul.

“Sometimes we feel less than what we are,” he says. “I didn’t feel I belonged, I didn’t fit in. I didn’t make friends. I didn’t like the guy I saw in the mirror.

“There were bad things, including divorces, that had gone on in my life,” Bates says. “With that kind of shame, I wanted to do things right, wanted to be a good person, but it’s hard to hold you head up at times and I wanted something that would make me feel better. I used drugs and drank a lot.”

Today, Bates realizes he was trying to put a band-aid on a deep wound.

“When you’ve gone as far at that point in you life, you either get better or die,” he says.

Sitting in a cell gave Bates time to reflect on his life and his decisions up to that point.

After he was released, he recorded some demos.

“I got a call from RCA Records,” Bates says. “They wanted to meet the guy singing on the demos.

“I told them the truth about everything, and told them I’d been clean for one year,” he says. “They gave me that record deal.”

There can be only one explanation, Bates says.

“When a 37-year-old guy comes in and tells you that kind of a story and they still decide to give you a record deal, it’s got to be divine intervention,” he says.

Since then, Bates has recorded hits such as “Long Slow Kisses,” “The Love Song” and “I Wanna Make You Cry.”

“I’ve got three more album projects in the works, an inspirational CD called ‘Once Upon a Cross’ and a Christmas CD ‘Once Upon a Star,’” Bates says.

Although he lost his way for a time, Bates never lost his faith. Growing up, he and his family sang old gospel songs together.

“I got my first job playing in church at age 11,” Bates recalls. “I gave my life to Christ at 15.”

For as long as he can remember, Bates wanted to be a performer. “I have a very weird memory,” he says. “I can remember all the way back to 2 years old. This is what I wanted to do my entire life.

“My first gig at 17 was in a nightclub,” Bates says. “I had to lie about my age to get in.”

From that point on, his career began to rise, until the addiction nearly took it all away. “When I woke up in jail, I felt the full weight of what I’d done,” he says.

“It was a good opportunity to bargain with God, but I didn’t do that. I said, ‘Lord, I’m not asking you to get me out of jail. I deserve to be here.’ I was facing a sentence of 15 years.”

Not only did Bates steal, he stole from one of his best friends. “He had only one extra key to his house and I had it,” Bates says. “One weekend while he was gone, I stole $25,000 in musical equipment.

“Two weeks later, he got home and he knew whoever did it had a key. The police came to my apartment, and there was all the equipment I’d stolen.”

Over time, Bates was able to win back that friendship. “I was willing to do whatever it took,” he says. “I was sincere.

“There is scientific evidence that drug addiction and alcoholism are diseases,” Bates says. “He saw that I was sincere and that I was not who I was when I stole from him.”

Today, Bates has been clean and sober for 11 years. He is happily married and the proud father of 2-year-old Brianna Nadine Bates.

“I had seven top 50 singles, one or two in the top 10, and everything I wanted,” Bates says. “I decided what I really wanted was to be a father.

“When your intention and motive is pure and clean, when you are going to do something for the right reason, I think God is always behind that,” he says. “I can’t imagine anybody being any prouder than I am of Brianna. She is my heart and soul.”

Now, after rebuilding his own career, Bates is helping others. He currently is co-managing Michael Ray, who will open for him in Savannah.

“My show is a lot of music from all of the CDs I’ve got out,” Bates says. “I’m doing a new CD now and will record six songs that are mine and six songs by Conway Twitty.”

Bates is a huge Twitty fan.

“Conway always said things the girls wanted to hear and men wanted to say and couldn’t,” Bates says. “I always believed every word he sang.”

Often, Bates shares his story with audiences. And he’s writing a book, “Reckless,” about his experiences.

“When I’m not singing secular music, I go to churches and tell people what God’s done in my life,” he says.

“I’ve been open and honest. I want people to see things I’m open about and not go down the path I took. If you are headed in that direction, find the courage to turn around.”